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The Famine Within
| Length: | 55 min |
| Released: | 1990 |
| Ages: |
College Adult |
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This searing documentary looks at the obsession of women with the size and the shape of their bodies. Under the coercive power of consumerism and the mass media, women have come to view their bodies as marketable objects and to judge them according to unrealistic standards. Paradoxically, this anxious quest for the perfect body exists in our culture at the same time that the feminist movement decries the role of woman as a sex object. Using a dramatic visual approach, the film explores the complex causes that lie at the heart of this paradox.
Combining the direct testimony of many women who have suffered from the body obsession – dancers, mothers, career women, athletes, models, bulimics, fat women, anorexics, young girls – with the views of leading experts, The Famine Within explores the kind of hunger that cannot be satisfied by food.
Combining the direct testimony of many women who have suffered from the body obsession – dancers, mothers, career women, athletes, models, bulimics, fat women, anorexics, young girls – with the views of leading experts, The Famine Within explores the kind of hunger that cannot be satisfied by food.
"Eye opening...thorough and cogent... An effective mixture of sobering statistics, perceptive observations and desperately sad anecdotes." - The New York Times
Toronto Festival of Festivals, 1990
Sydney Film Festival, 1990
Sydney Film Festival, 1990
